Improvement in gutta-percha apparatus for covering wire



1. REYNOLDS. Y Makingl R'bber Tubing.

No. 15,439.-l Patented July 29, 1856.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES REYNOLDS, OE NEw YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN GUTTA-PERCHA APPARATUS FOR COVERING WIRE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 15,439, dated July 29, 1856.

` in Machinery for Making Gutta-Pereha Tubing and for Insulating Telegraph-Wire in Gutta-Percha; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in Which- Figure l is a central vertical section of a machine embracing the whole of the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a central section of the stomach and die in a plane parallel with Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several iigures. This machinery is for the purpose of forming the tubing or coating the wire (both operations being substantially alike) Vby forcing the gutta-percha while rendered plastic by heat through a die, che necessary pressure for the purpose being applied by apiston working in a cylinder in which the material is placed and kept heated, or by other suitable forcing apparatus.

One improvement consists in providing the cylinder or other vessel in which the pressure is applied with a connection to an air-pump or other suitable exhausting apparatus, by

which any air remaining in the said cylinder or receptacle after it has been filled as full as possible with gutta-percha and closed may be extracted before applying the pressure, so that the manufactured article may be free from blow-holes and perfectly solid, which is of great importance for small tubing and the covering of fine wire. p

A second. improvement consists in arranging the die and core or other device used in connection with the die in place of a core by which the tube'is produced or the covering of the wire performed in a position transverse to the direction in which Works the piston or other device for producing the pressure, in order, when the machine is used for making tubing, to allow a hollow core to be used for the admission of air into the tubing as fast as it is formed and prevent it collapsing by the formation of a vacuum within it, and

in order,when the machinery is used for covering wire, to provide for the passage of the wire through the die.

A third improvement consists in providing thestomaeh in which the die is placed with an escape-opening to allow of the constant escape of a certain quantity of material during the operation of the machine. By this means the quality of the manufactured article is rendered more uniform` and' without it it is almost impossible to produce small tub ing or cover ne wire with any degree of uniformity of thickness.

A fourth improvement consists in the employlnent of a continuously-revolving trough of water suitably arranged to receive the tube or covered wire as it leaves the die and coil it up in the water to cool it and make it set sufiiciently to prevent the coils sticking to each other.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is a metal cylinder, surrounded with a steam-jacket B and provided at the front end with trunnions a a, to rest in suitable bearings on a framing4 C, and at the back end with a toothed segmentb, gearing with a pinion c. on a shaft d, which is arranged below the cylinder in a position parallel with the trunnions in bearings in the framing C. Byturning the vshaft d the pinion may be made to operate on the' rack to place the -cylinder in the horizontal positionV shown in Fig. i, which is the position for operation, or to throw up the end which carries the rack to bring it to an inclined or vertical position for the convenience of filling.

D is a screw, which is arranged in a horizontal position, with its axis in the same plane as, but standing at a right angle to, the axis of the cylinder-trunnions, said screw being supported partly in a nut e, which is fitted to turn freely, but confined edgewise in a bearing in the rear part of the framing C, and partly by a stand E, which runs on rollers upon and between a xed way F, secured to the iioor of the manufactory. The rear` end of the screw is secured .in the traveling stand to prevent it turning, and its front end has secured to it a piston Gr, which iits the cylinder and is eapable of working therein when the cylinder occupies ahorizontal position. The nut chas rmly secured to it a large spur-gear f, which gears with a pinion g on the shaft H, which Works in bearings on one side of the framing B and constitutes the driving-shaft of the machine, and by motion derived from the pinion the large gear causesthe nut to rotate in its bearing, and thus to give a longitudinal movement to the screw and Work the piston in the cylinder.

I is what I call the stornaeh, attached to the front end of the cylinder and containing the die and core o r core-piece. This stomach consists of a square metal box made with a flange h,which fits easily, but snugly, Within the cylinder. In front of the flange his turned a rabbet t', to receive within it a small iiange 7', which is left around the interior of the Ycylinder. The stomach is put in place by passing it through from the rear to the front end of the cylinder, and is then secured with the ianges 71, and j face to face by bolting to the stomach tWo small clamping-pieces Z Z, which t up against the end of the cylinder, as shown in Fig. 1, thus confining the stomach to the cylinder, but leaving it free to turn therein. It should be observed that the adjoining faces of the iianges h and j should be faced to make an air-tight joint, and this joint will be kept close by the vpressure of the piston on the contents of thel cylinder When the machine is in operation.

Into one side of the stomach I is iitted and secured the die fm, which is to produce the proper size and form of the exterior of the tube or rope, which is or may be substantiallyT like that used in the manufacture of metal tubing, and into the other side is tted the core or core-piece In.

The drawing represents what I term the core-piece, Which is employed 4in the coating of telegraph-Wires, in Which operation the wire or wires constitute cores. The corepiece consists of a tube n, which enters the stomach about as far as its center, Where it nearly meets the die fm, Which enters the stomach on the other side directly opposite to or in line with it. The tube fn, -or core-piece has a Wide mouth at its outer end, but at its inner end is closed, except that one or more orifices, according to the number of Wires to be insulated in the same rope of gutta-percha, are provided for the Wires to pass through, as indicated in Fig. 3, Where two Wires o o are shown in blue color, passing through the stomach and die at right angles to the axis of the cylinder A, said orifices, of Which five are shown in Fig. l, being only just large enough for the Wires to pass throughfreely, and being so arranged as to conduct the wires through the center of the die, so that they may be surrounded with an equal body of gutta percha on all sides and be kept separate from and insulated from eachother. The inner end of the core-piece is made rather smaller externally than the interior of the die m, in order that room may be left for the gutta-percha to enter the die all around the core-piece.

If the machine is to be used for maklng tube, the place of the core-piecenis supplied by a core which resembles the core used in making metal tube, except that it is made hollow to conduct air into the interior of the tube as fast as it is formed.

At the extremity of the stomach, opposite the center of the cylinder, is placed the escape-opening p, which is provided with a cock p to regulate the escape of a quantity of the gutta-percha to produce a uniform quality of the manufactured article.v

q is a pipe communicating with the interior of the cylinder A, near the stomach, and intended to lbe connected with an air-pump or other exhausting apparatus, which, being such as is used for other exhausting purposes, does not require to be shown in the drawings. This pipe is furnished with a cock fr, by Which to close it when the piston G is in operation.

t is a pipe leading through one of the cylinder-trunnions a a, to convey steam to the jacket B, and u is a cock at the bottom of the jacket to let-out the Water of condensation.

J is the revolving Water-trough, made in the form of a ring and supported in front of the machine on a number of anged rollers K K, which turn freely on axles secured in stationary stands L L, bolted to the floor.

The flanges of the rollers serve to keep thel trough in a proper position relatively to the die for the purpose of receiving the tube or rope therefrom and coiling it Within itself by its revolution, the said position being such that the axis of the'die stands over the trough with its axis tangential to the circle thereof. There is a spur-toothed ring fu all around the bottom of the trough, gearing with a pinion fw on an upright shaft M, which is supported in suitable bearings in a stand M', and which carries a cone-pulley w', receiving a band from a cone-pulley on another upright shaft N, which Works in bearings in a stand O, and which carries another cone-pulley y, which receives motion, .through a band z, from a cone-pulley P-on the driving-shaft H of the machine.

By the above arrangement of pulleys, shafts, banding, and gearing mot-ion is transmitted from the driving-shaft to the cooling-trough at a speed which may be varied by shifting the bands on the cone-pulleys to suit the speed the delivery of the pipe or rope from the The operation of the machine in covering telegraph-wire is as follows: To prepare for filling the cylinder the piston requires to be run back, which is done by turning gear f by hand after throwing the pinion g out of gear with it by sliding the latter along its shaft A. After the Withdrawal of the piston the rear end of the cylinder is raised by turning the shaft d by a hand-crank,which is applied for the purpose, and the cylinder is filled as expeditiously as possible with gutt-a-percha in the state in which it comes from the steaming apparatus, after which the cylinder is lowered and the piston run into the mouth close up to the charge. The outer ends of the die and core-piece are then closed by stoppers temporarily applied for the purpose, and the cock p is opened and the exhausting apparatus is set in motion to extract all the air that is contained among and between the shreds and pieces of the material, and when all the air is extracted the cock r is vclosed and the piston run in by hand far enough to `pack the -Whole of the charge into one compact mass, which, owing to the air having been extracted, it requires but little power to do. The Stoppers are now to be removed from the die and core-piece and the cock p opened, and the Wire or Wires to be covered passed through the hole or holes in the corepiece and into the die. The pinion g is to be thrown into gear with the large gear f and motion to be communicated to the shaft l-I when the piston moves slowly forward in the cylinder and the Water-trough .T begins to revolve. The gutta-percha in the cylinder is rendered and kept plastic by the heat of the steamjacket and the piston forces it gradually th erefrom into and through the die m. The guttapercha, in passing through and being compressed in the die, grasps and carries with it the wire or Wires, drawing them into and through the core-piece just as fast as the rope issues from the die. The amount of escape required at the escape-opening p will soon be determined by practice, and When the operation commences the Workman will, if necessary, regulate it by the cock p. No rule can be laid down as to the quantity of escape. necessary, as it varies according to the quality of the raw material and other circumstances.

Vhen the machine is employed to manufacture tubing, the operation differs in no important particular from that above described, and no change of the machinery is necessary except to put in a die and hollow core of the size required. Several sets of these cores and core-pieces may be adapt-ed to the same machine.

It will be seen that by the arrangement of the die or core and core-piece transversely to the direction of the motion to produce pressure provision is made for admitting a constant stream of air into the tube as fast as it is formed to prevent its collapse and for the introduction of wires of unlimited length, neither of which results could be obtained conveniently if, by any possibilit.y,'the die and core were arranged with their axis in line with the axis of the pressing apparatus.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. Providing the cylinder or other vessel in Which the gutta-percha is submitted to the pressure with a connection to an air-pump or other suitable exhausting apparatus, for the purpose herein described.

2. The arrangement of the die and core or core-piece transversely to the direction in which Works the piston or other device for producing the pressure, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

3. Providing the stomach I or its equivalent, Which contains the die, with a variable escape opening p, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The continuously-revolvin g water-trough arranged relatively to the die and operating substantially as described, for the purpose Set forth.

JAMES REYNOLDS.

Witnesses:

WM. TUSCH, JAMES F. BUcKLEY. 

